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For those of us involved with school nutrition, we know that our number one priority is to feed America’s youth. We also play a part in instilling healthy habits in our students from a young age. School breakfast and lunch programs are a huge player in this mission, but there are other parts of the […]

One afternoon, Jackie Oelfke found her five-year-old granddaughter, Sunshine, counting money from her piggy bank on the living room floor. When she asked Sunshine what the money was for – her response will melt your heart. Find out how a young lady with a piggy bank and a heart of gold set off on a milk money […]

Fruits, vegetables, whole grains, meat or meat alternative – what’s missing from this nutritional line-up to create a reimbursable lunch in a school nutrition program? It’s milk, or a milk alternative, of course. As per the requirements of the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010 (HHFKA), flavored milk served in schools must be nonfat, while white milk can be […]

Most of us have heard that the three most important factors in real estate are “Location, Location, Location.” Similarly, I would suggest that the key to a successful statewide menu planning software implementation is “Communication, Communication, Communication.” When implementing statewide software you should communicate early, communicate often, and communicate repeatedly.
Communicate Early
Ideally, you should communicate to […]

Ever thought to yourself, “I bet I could write a book with all the crazy things that happen to me in child nutrition”? JoAnn Wismer did just that. Tune in as JoAnn shares her experiences (as well as others’ experiences) in child nutrition, tells how her book Hairnets and Aprons: The Story of a Lunch Lady came […]

When Sonny Perdue came into office as the Secretary of Agriculture, his first action was to announce continued flexibility for whole grains and sodium, meeting two requests of the 2017 Position Paper. Furthermore, the USDA lobbied for a 1 million dollar grant for program simplification (essentially how to streamline and simplify child nutrition programs), and […]

Last week, we asked our readers to send in their Halloween and Fall Harvest photos to feature on the blog, to see how other food service departments celebrate. We received several great submissions, and below are our four favorites.Thank you to everyone who submitted photos to us! If you didn’t get a chance to send […]

Dave Allan and Ginger G., hosts of “Daily Dos” on the Bismarck, North Dakota radio station Rock 101, talk about “Ride and Dine” – and event brings members of the local bike community together to raise money for student meal debt.

Find out more…

Bikers Help Pay Off School Lunch Debt
Ride and Dine Facebook page
More on Dave Allan […]

Our world is rapidly evolving into a purely digital environment, and as you know, school nutrition is following. Forget the stone age of paper records for menu planning, meal counts and eligibility applications – modern school nutrition operations run on data-driven decisions fueled by the use of technology.